A Story Has To Be Written
by Venchaser
Summary: Cloud is a student at the University of Antwerp. Take a look at his daily life, his friends and frustrating deadlines. A funny, witty (and most importantly, sarcastic) story about a student who is trying to find his way in the academic world and in life. Rated T for now. ZackxCloud
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters.

I suddenly had inspiration after a major writer's block. I hope you enjoy the story!

* * *

I snapped my pencil. I threw a nasty glare at the person right in front of me.

"How loud can someone chew their gum?! For God's sake, woman! Shut that infernal pie hole of yours!" I yelled. Well, not really shouted out loud, I still had some public decency. No, I cried it out in my mind.

I was sitting in the library of my university, reading _Mrs Dalloway_ for my Modernism course. At least, I tried reading it, but this foul, swine-like, blond bitch was annoying the hell out of me. I could not concentrate with her loud smacking. To top of her indecent behaviour, she was, I believe, chatting with one of her friends (or late-night hook-ups, I assume), laughing out loud obnoxiously every once in a while with a vile, high-pitched laughter that scared everyone near her.

Yeah, it was not fun at all. The first time she roared out with laughter nearly made me fall of my chair. Nonetheless, I tried to ignore her by putting in my earplugs. That did not help. That sharp noise she made every five minutes penetrated my ears to the core. Every time I had to check if my ears had not start bleeding or something like that.

To top it all off, she kept tapping her foot against one of the legs of the table, creating this rhythmic vibration. If I had stayed there any longer, I would have gone mad.

After a hellish long time, that turned out to be only fifteen minutes, I stood up, gathered my stuff and prepared to leave.

Usually, I am a pretty sweet guy, but I can have my evil moments. This was one of them. Every now and then, the blond pig balanced on the two legs of her chair. I stood up the moment she started balancing once again. I swiftly walked passed her. The moment I did, I discreetly tapped the back of her chair, making her lose her balance and fall over. Some people had apparently seen me doing it, because they gave me a thumbs up. Seems I was not the only one who was sick of her behaviour.

Our little blond bimbo quickly stood up, pulling down her teeny tiny mini-skirt and haughtily looking around her trying to pull of her fall as planned course of action.

"Yeah, trying to make it seem you're sensually hugging the floor won't make you seem less of a douche." I thought. And with that as a final note, I left.

As I walked down the stairs I began planning my next action. I glanced down at my watch; 14:56. Aerith had class until four, so I couldn't go to her home. I had just missed bus back home, so I would be stuck here for at least forty minutes.

"Hmm, what to do next" I wondered out loud.

"Wanna go to that new coffee bar that opened last week?" I heard a girl near the exit say to her friend.

I could go for a good nice cup of coffee, I thought. And I deserve one. To Mogs it is!

I was greeted by a bone-chilling gust of wind mixed with snow. Wrapping my scarf tighter around my neck, I set course to Mogs, a small student café where they serve the best caramel macchiato. My steps were accompanied with the crunching of the snow underneath my All Stars. I silently cursed under my breath for wearing these flimsy sneakers. My feet were freezing so badly, I had lost all feeling in my toes. However, I always get blisters when I wear decent snow boots. It was a lose-lose situation, as usual.  
I navigated through the web of little streets that make up the university district. Left turn, left, right, straight, left. Oh, wait. That had to be right.  
I looked up at the grey sky. Little snowflakes were swirling in the air, dancing little circles only to be disturbed by the occasional wind that disrupted their elegant waltz.  
I sped up my pace, my formerly numb toes began to sting. After agonizing three minutes I finally saw the sign of Mogs. My mood was lifted even higher when I saw there wasn't a long line; a rare chance had appeared!

Mogs was one of many cafés in the vicinity of the university, but it was the best one. Owned by Mog, a kind middle-aged man who enjoyed talking to the student's when time allowed it. I have this one theory that, when you put Mog in red jumpsuit, give him a red hat you have the spitting image of Father Christmas, Santa Claus. Minus the beard, but he could always grow one if he wanted to, I guess.

The bar itself was small but cosy. The walls were painted in a warm orange colour. The kind of orange you see at twilight. I'm not a big fan of orange-coloured walls, but Mogs somehow managed to pull it off. It always smelled of freshly brewed coffee and delicious cakes in the little coffee bar so being there was like being in heaven. The downside, unfortunately, was that seat were rare. And when I mean rare, I really mean rare. In the three years I've been attending university here, I have only been able to obtain a seat only once. And I come here often. So often Mog already knows my name and regular order. But it's only natural for the seats to be so quickly taken; those sweet, comfy sofas were the dream of every tired student. And of course, the couches were already taken. Then it'll be only coffee, I thought. I did not mind, though. Just a sweet cup of that yummy goodness would make me a happy man.

In accordance to the Christmas season, the bar was decorated with fairy light, a Christmas tree and several stocking hang on the wall. Naturally, Christmas-themed songs came floating out of the speakers behind the counter.

I joined the line and began looking around. Most of the occupants of the seats were couples, glued to each other, only to separate once every three minutes to stock up on fresh air. I rolled my eyes and decided to focus my attention on Mog who was busy making the orders. Anything was better than seeing two lovebirds eating each other's face. I heard the doorbell ring and I looked back, only to see an enormous amount of students entering the small café. I turned forward again and quickly glanced at my watch: 15:02. A lot of lectures probably had ended at three, making this wave of annoying people possible. The previously calm café was now buzzing with the conversations of fellow-students.

"No way, did she really…"  
"Yes, and the worst part…"  
"And then I just smacked her ass."  
"Oh my gosh, Y'all. I was so wasted last night…"

I tried to shut out the meaningless conversations, I did not to hear the blond girl near the door talk about how she slept with a total stranger last night, or the dude in front of here who had been so drunk he passed out in the streets. Call me boring, but I would never lower myself to their level: partying, sleeping around. Nope, as long as I can study and see my friends once in a while, I'm good. In my annoyance towards others, I had lost sight of my place in the line.

"The same as usual, Cloud?" Mog asked. It apparently was my turn.

"Oh! Yes, please!" I hastily replied. Mog nodded and began making my order: a small caramel macchiato with extra syrup. I liked my coffee sweet.

"That'll be two fifty please."

I rummaged through my bag, cursing every curse word I knew: I couldn't find my wallet! I could feel sweat forming underneath my many layers of clothes. The line behind my grew and grew I could just feel people getting annoyed at me. Mog just smiled sympathetically at me. In my growing frustration about not finding my money, I suddenly felt someone putting his hand on my shoulder and say,

"A regular black, medium. I'll pay for blondie too." A warm baritone voice coming from behind me spoke.

"Coming right up!" Mog happily roared.

I turned around to meet with the bluest eyes I had ever seen.

"Trouble finding your wallet?"


	2. Take Me to the Ball - Part one

Hello my Munchkins! Here is a part one of chapter 2! I'm going to be busy to next few weeks (university and such), so I worked my ass off and managed to get the first part of chapter 2 done. I hope you like it! I can't promise I'll update regularly, but I will try my utmost best to finish chapter two by the end of november (don't worry, it's going to be a long chapter ^.^b).  
Also, thank you for your kind reviews! They really are a great motivation!

Cheers!

* * *

It all came back to me in a flash.

Two weeks ago, there was this spectacular, decadent, mind-blowing party called 'MASKed'. Tickets were sold out in an instant. Initially, I was not interested as I am usually not that keen on parties and other activities where booze plays the most important part. But MASKed was different.

It was around nine on a Saturday morning, about a week prior to the party, when I received a text from Aerith that read:

_"Get up lazy bum, I got a surprise: I got us tickets to MASKed. No whining, U're coming. And you owe me ten euro for the ticket. Love you!" –sent on November 14__th__ 2013_

"I'm not ready for this kind of stuff so early in the morning." I whined into my pillow, dropping my smartphone back on the nightstand. As any other adolescent I refused to come out of bed before ten on my free day. But then I realised I had to prepare a presentation for Applied Linguistics, so I slowly got out of my sweet, warm, comfy heaven and moved grudgingly down the stairs to get my breakfast.

"A banana will do." I muttered.

Opening the door, I was greeted by a flash of yellow: my over-enthousiastic mother, who was currently sporting a very yellow dress. Way too much colour for a Saturday morning.

"Guess what, Sweetie! Mommy and Daddy are going on a surprise holiday!"

"Oh, that's great. Wait, what?"

"Is that how you greet me? Fine." She replied mock-upset. "By the way, Daddy has gone to the store, to get some more tanning lotion. Have I told you we're going to the Bahama's for two weeks?"

"No." I answered agitated. I'm not a morning person, I need time to process her active behaviour. And dropping such a bomb in the early morning was really too much for me to digest.

"How come you only find time to tell me this now? When are you leaving? What about food?"

"Today, our plane's leaving at six tonight. No need to worry about food, Silly! We've got everything in stock: vegetables, meat, pasta. You name it. You can cook for yourself, you're almost twenty. Time to get you a bit independent."

With that final utterance she left for up-stairs to gather some 'thingies'.

Flabbergasted with the enormous amount of information I just received, I dragged myself to the dinner table. Grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl, I stared outside. I peeled the banana skin off and laid my head to rest on the palm of my right hand, watching the birds in the garden. I shifted my head towards to clock, only to see it was three past nine.

"Way too early."

Five minutes Iater I finished my banana and was on my way to drop the peel in the trashcan when I felt a soft furry thing pass my leg. I looked down and saw my little cat Red.  
I dropped down and petted the calico.

"How're you doin', buddy? Had a nice sleep? Yes, you did! Yes, you did! Cute lil' thing." The cat kept purring the entire time.

One of life's great mysteries: talking to animal is a weird, high-pitched voice. Same goes for babies, by the way.

After disposing of my banana-peel, I made my way back to my room. Rays of light made their way through the windows in the hall, creating little spotlights. It was a fine autumn's morning. My thoughts wandered back to my mom's earlier statement.

A perfect example of my mom's exuberant behaviour; Dad mostly just goes along with all of her crazy plans. I actually feel quite sorry for the old man. Ever since I was a little kid she'd plan all sorts of insane stuff. I remember this one time when she just had to go to South-America to see the ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico. My father refused (first and probably last time) to go along. And so she went on her own. We didn't see her for an entire month. And when she came back, she acted like nothing happened. I guess you could say my mom actually wasn't around that much… But maybe that's for the better, because she doesn't really care about boundaries and such. One time, when I just graduated from high school, she came up to me and said we needed to have 'the talk'. Long story short, I received a double-studded dildo and a whole lot of mental trauma's I'm still try to supress today. Thank God she's not around that much.

Ascending up the stairs, I could hear the wood croak underneath my feet. I entered my room, a mess as usual. Rummaging through a pile of clothes I found a fairly fresh t-shirt. No need to change the pyjama bottoms. It's still Saturday for crying out loud.

Avoiding the piles of clothes, books and games I made my way to my desk. Booting up my laptop, I tried to clear my desk a bit. While the notebook was getting started, I looked around to find my handbook of Applied Linguistics.

"I really need to start to be a tidier person." I mumbled, plunging into a heap of papers.

I finally recovered the handbook from the depths of my messiness and I turned back to my laptop, which was waiting for my next command. When I opened my mailbox, I saw that Aerith had sent me a mail: subject – _Going to MASKed! No whining._ The mail included my ticket, which I had to print myself. Attached to the mail was the printable ticket, obviously, but also a link the event's website.

I can't say my curiosity didn't get the better of me. Once Aerith's mind was made up, there was no changing it. And somehow, I can't explain, I actually felt a bit excited about going to MASKed. Especially when I saw the pictures from last year's event.

Instead of showing only pictures of drunken skanks, there were some pretty awesome pictures of the party that represented the atmosphere perfectly. From what I could read on the website, MASKed took place in a museum near the Scheldt, a river connecting the haven of Antwerp with the North sea. The museum itself consisted of no less than eight floors, which were all open during the festivity. Each floor had a different DJ-line up and different genre of music. Another cool concept was that you weren't allowed to enter unless you wore a mask, or had a mask painted on your face.

The more I read the more I was sold and actually felt grateful that Aerith went the trouble of getting my a ticket even though I hadn't asked for it. I looked outside my window and saw the mailman arrive.

"This party is going to be epic!"

"Come'on Aerith, the party started twenty minutes ago and we still haven't left the apartment" I shouted.

Evening had fallen over the city of Antwerp and currently I was sitting in Aerith's apartment watching the city's skyline while my dear best friend was still deciding on which pair of shoes she'd be wearing tonight.

"Oy! This is an important choice! It's a matter of blisters or no blisters! Do you wanna pick my shoes?!" she yelled back.

I kept quiet, which was the wisest thing to do.

"Don't worry, the real party starts around midnight. Don't sweat it." She leaned over the railing, looked down at me, giving me a quick smile.

"I'll be right there." And then she disappeared again in her room.

"That's what you said half an hour ago." I muttered under my breath, still gazing at the stunning view.

Aerith's apartment was located in one of the finer neighbourhoods of Antwerp. From the apartment, you had a perfect view of Antwerp; the cathedral, Central Station and a mosaic of lights that illuminated the horizon. And even though she lived in the heart of the city, you didn't hear any street noise; it was paradise in the city.

The apartment itself was huge. And when I say huge, I mean three floors tall, and each floor had about seven rooms. So you can say it was pretty big.

I lifted myself off the couch and walked towards the balcony. I looked into the window and saw a reflection of myself. I observed myself from head to toe. All Stars with an Union Jack print, tight black jeans, a plain white dress shirt and grey vest to finish the look.

I turned around an began to walk in circles around the couch. After ten circles I got bored and decided to check on Aerith and her shoe situation.

"Any luck so far?" I hopefully asked.

"I've narrowed it down to two. Which ones do you prefer? The black ones or these red ones?" a pair of intense green eyes were focussed on me.

"Black ones. The red ones make you look like a hooker."

"Hmmm, I thought so too. Good call."

"You ready to go now?"

"Almost, now I have to find the right purse."

I let myself drop on her bed, and screamed into one of the pillows.

After another thirty minutes and a lot of different purses we were finally on our way to the MAS, the museum were MASKed took place.

The way to the museum was a short one. On our way there, we saw a lot of masked people. Aerith wore an elegant dark green columbina decorated with misty green stones, whereas I wore a marine blue one decorated with blue stones.

"Just to make sure, you're not going to leave me, right? I can't dance, so I can't go solo and I since it's my first time going to a party in like five years, you're obliged to accompany all night. Okay?" I asked Aerith, although it sounded more like an order.

"Don't get your panties all in a twist. I won't leave you…" she began

"Unless?" I could feel where this was going to.

"Well, I might have told a certain somebody I was coming so I might leave you for a maybe a minute or two?" she gave me an apologetic smile.

"Fine." I sighed, "How's Vincent doing, by the way?"

"Same as always. Partying and partying. I wish he'd take his studies a bit more seriously."

"Does he take you seriously?" I enquired. Aerith and Vincent had quite the history of an on-and-off relationship.

"Very much. I think…. I think he's finally starting to realize that a relationship is something you need to work on. Not something that just happens,' she snapped her fingers 'and based on sex."

"No need to go in detail." I threw a mock-disgusted face

"Don't get all prude on me, little virgin. Now, remember. This is a social event, meaning you might learn new people. Try to enjoy yourself and go out there. Find yourself some mancandy!"

"Yes, mom," A lopsided grin crept on my face "I'll try."

"Good, because we're almost there. And remember, if someone talks to you…" Aerith warned

"Yeah, yeah. Be yourself, be nice, don't be antisocial. I get it." Even though I said this, I didn't really believe it. I never way the social type to begin with. And even when I started talking, I either said something really awkward, or I become a waterfall of words. Or, when you put it in Mean Girl terms, Word Vomit.

The music started getting louder and you could practically feel the excitement in the air. When I finally caught a glimpse of the museum I was dumbfounded. Spotlights coloured each floor in a different colour. And, best of all, there was no line. No waiting in the cold! Praise the Lord!

"Happy we didn't came at the opening hour?" Aerith asked smugly.

I could only nod.

Ten minutes later we arrived at the first floor. There speakers were booming out loud Dubstep. I could feel my brain getting scrambled by the mindless, repetitive music. I pointed towards the stairs, signalling to go to the next floor. Aerith, who had plugged her fingers in her ears nodded.

The second floor was a bit better. It was trance-like music mixed with something that sounded a bit like dubstep, but not quite. It was bearable. Aerith had already spotted Vincent and motioned she'd go and say hi. I nodded and pointed up.

"I'm going to check out each floor, I'll send you a text when I've found a good floor, okay?!" I shouted in her ear. The music still was pretty loud, but Aerith got the message.

"Oh boy." I said to myself, realizing I was now on my own. But I couldn't hog Aerith all night. That wouldn't be fair.

And so I began my quest, searching for the floor with the best music.

The third floor played rock music. I liked it, but the atmosphere was a bit too aggressive for my tastes.

On the fourth floor the DJ's were playing reggae-like music. Not my cup of tea. Next floor!

The fifth was the worst floor of them all. It metal mixed with dubstep, creating a real skullfuck. I quickly stuffed my index fingers in my ears and ran for the stairs. I began to regret I had even come. The music so far was disappointing.

On the stairway to the sixth floor I encountered a couple that looked like they were having intercourse right then and there, and to be honest, it looked quite sad. Luckily, both parties had their clothes on. For now, at least. Avoiding sight of the lustful couple, I hurried up the stair, hoping I would never have to see such a desperate attempt at sex ever again.

Floor six and seven were not that bad. Hip-Hop and R&B respectively. But then I arrived at floor eight. And it was heaven.

Unlike the other floors, floor eight had no closed walls. It was all window , so you had this fantastical view of the city at night on the one side, and the moonlit river and the other. The music playing was a smooth jazz, and best of all, not so loud that you had scream and shout to get a message across. I rapidly pulled out my phone out of my pocket and texted Aerith I was at the eight floor, but I also wrote not to hurry, to take her time with Vincent.

I made my way to the bar and ordered a coke. Seeing I had no one to talk too, I decided to stroll towards the east side of the floor and admire the lighted city. Sparkling and bustling with neon lights that illuminated the streets and the buildings.

"Beautiful." I said

"Not as beautiful as you."

"The hell?"

I turned around and met with blue eyes. A tall, broad guy was standing behind me and was sporting a rather cocky grin. I was so dumbstruck that I just stared at him.

"Anybody there?" He waved his hand up and down my face.

I pushed away his hand. "Yeah, yeah."

"Good, I was starting to think you might be a mute."

"Yeah, well, I'm not." I replied rather short.

"So, having a good time?" He asked happy, genuinely interested voice.

"Meh. The other floors aren't that spectacular, but I like this one.." I began, but I was immediately cut off

" 'Cause I'm, here right?" He flashed a pair of brilliant white teeth.

"What makes you so cocky?"

Maybe his daddy is one of those rich people, I thought. Damn those rich kids.

"My big –"

"Stop right there!" I could feel my cheeks getting warmer. Was this guy hitting on me, or was this just some kind of messed up sexual harassment? Not that sexual harassment is never messed up. It always is, I guess.

"I was going to say my bright personality, but seems someone has quite the perverted mind."

"I have not!" I replied rather undignified.

"Just ruffling your feathers, Cutie."

"It's the mask." I hastily spoke.

"Hmm, I"ll be the judge of that." And he swiftly pulled of my mask.

"Nope, I was right. You're cute." Again I was treated a dazzling smile. Where was Aerith? I was getting kind of nervous.

"Well, I think it's only fair for you to show your face now. Show me mine, show me yours, right?" I could feel my heart starting to pound in my throat. I have to admit I was kind of curious what kind of face hid behind the black mask. The onyx mask contrasted his blue eyes perfectly.

"I'm Zack, by the way." Said the dark-haired youth, pulling of his mask.

"Cloud, nice to meet ya." I wanted to hold out my hand, but then I realized it probably was sweaty, so I kept both my hands on my coke.

"So," Zack began "Are you also a student at the university or…?" He looked at me questioningly with his big blue puppy dog eyes.

I shifted my gaze from his eyes to the city's skyline again.

"Yup, university. Doing my Bachelor in literature and linguistics, hoping to get my Master in linguistics. And you?" No word vomit so far. Good job, Cloud. Keep it up! I mentally cheered myself.

"Civil engineering. So, you go to parties a lot?"

So, I thought, he's a smart guy. Handy to know.

"Not really. I'm not a big fan of loud music and sorts. And I'm not that keen on drunk people, either."

I quickly looked around to see if Aerith had already turned up, but I only saw unfamiliar faces. Dancing, talking. Some lurking in the corners waiting for God knows what.

"Yeah, me neither. Say, wanna go someplace a little more quiet?"

I eyed him suspiciously, he may he good looking and handsome, but I'm some kind of cheap slut.

"As long as you don't plan to kidnap me or murder me , fine. I could use some fresh air." And I wasn't lying. The entire museum felt like a sauna: warm, sticky and smelly.

"We can go sit by the Scheldt if you wanna. And don't worry, I won't push you in. Unless you want me too." I appreciated his humour, so I let his remark slide by.

"Sure." I gave him a little smile, and somewhere, in the back of my head, I could just feel Aerith give me the thumbs-up.


End file.
